Update: Watch Dogs release cancellation or name change?

There has been a great deal of confusion over the past few hours since news came to light that Ubisoft seems to have abandoned the game Watch Dogs. You can see why there has been a huge reaction to this because the game was one of the most anticipated ever since we were teased footage of it earlier last year.

We already knew that there wasn’t going to be a Wii U version, but to see Ubisoft file for the ‘Watch Dogs Trademark Abandonment’ is shocking, but we have to wonder if we are reading too much into what one NeoGaf user listed?

Let’s try to make sense of it all. Firstly, Ubisoft no longer wants the Watch Dogs trademark, but has made no mention of the Watch_Dogs trademark, which is said to be the correct way to spell it.

While it would be better for Ubisoft to own both, maybe they feel that one is enough? We don’t assume for one moment that Watch Dogs has been cancelled, if anything there could be a name change.

This does seem a bit of a stretch as well though seeing as though the Watch Dogs brand is well known throughout the gaming community. Who knows what is going on, but hopefully Ubisoft will make things a little clearer in the coming days?

Do you think the game will now be known as Watch_Dogs, which means no reference of the game without the underscore, or maybe there will be a complete name change? Or worse still, could the game have been cancelled?

Update: There have been two updates to the whole Watch Dogs saga. Firstly, Ubisoft has said that the game has not been canceled, although they never gave any explanation as to the trademark abandonment.

Secondly, TechnoBuffalo were then told by Ubisoft that they are currently trying to get the Watch Dogs trademark reinstating, and as such should take a few days before USPTO makes it active again.

There you have it crisis averted, there will still be a Watch_Dogs game, even on the Wii U, and is said to be in the polishing stage right now.

Peter has been writing on Product-Reviews since 2007 and in that time much has changed for him, like his hair having more grey than brown now. He loves gadgets and cars, and gets excited when big events come up, such as CES and the big auto shows.

Contact Peter Chubb: peter@product-reviews.net

He started out working in a factory and dreamed of the day when he could become his own boss; That happened back in 2002 and he has never looked back since. Things have changed so much on the Internet in that time, but he has adapted well.